Poetry is a voice, a charming accent and the poet is a celestial creature. His thought may come out as coarse, but he knows the attire he has to wrap it. The silken thread that designs the gown of a poem is no way devised in the laboratory of reason, but in a little hut enlightened by emotions. Hence, poetry must be felt. Prose poetry has become a trend in this era where pure poetry has turn out to be thin for reasons many. If we analyse poetry, two sections are noticeable: Open Poetic Form and Close Poetic Form. OPF has been approved by almost all the English poets of this era for the raison d’être that it takes along prose which offers a genuine freedom to the poet to compose his verses. And second that it doesn’t entail the necessities of CPF which is truly based on techniques. Liberation from the clutches of set rules, prose poetry has turned out to be most common form.
Birds of Different Feather by Dr. Koshy AV is an anthology framing an interesting theme Dr. Koshy AV is a Associate Professor in the English Department of Jazan University, Saudi Arabia and runs several literary groups under the title The Significant League. Dr. Koshy seems too much fascinated by birds, hence very rightly OPF best suits the book for the reason birds sing in wide-ranging tunes for the diverse populace. These flying machines are free to sing, free to move and free to feel, therefore the originality of their natural instincts in the poems have been well preserved that vividly confirms that the author has not distorted the voice of birds by opting CPF. The move is appreciable. The book is published by Authors Press under ISBN 978-93-88008-41-9.
The book covers a wide range of harmoniously selected poems but the underlying current somehow is similar at least in texture. On the tree of Dr. Koshy’s world one can find The Cuckoo and the poet sharing the experience of their journeys like laying the eggs in the nests of other species and sharing a poetic plight with the contemporary world that has lost the rhythm of merriment. On a limb The Black Drango along with Feathered Serpent deity of ancient Mesoamerica are revealing the secret of Krishna as rain cloud to take the poet back to his past when he has experienced a newly born Quetzalcoatl. A fascinating image of The Crow despite its being labeled as scavenger, Dr. Koshy has brought at fore very sanguine portrait of otherwise black crow by signifying a striking visual imagery to appreciate the Creator for administrating intelligence as bright spark in its eye. On the highest branch of Dr. Koshy’s tree perches The Bird of Death passing on the very intense message that pride hath a fall and that before one turns dust one has to raise someone from it. The Eagle of Dr. Koshy seems too much favouring the wind to explore the peak of excellence to leave behind the sick mind of a man that tosses him down from the royal status. Black Swan’s imaginations suffer when in realistic world; the bird was only lured to materialize the projection of its mind but the insensitivity in the world around turns the bird only what the nature finds the best in it. Raven on the tree of Dr. Koshy is not the kind of Raven what the bards have set up as symbol of peculiarity, but a powerful tool to reveal the secret of perching. A poem Today, the Birds are Silent has taken us into the cosmos where barbed wire went deep into the bird’s breast revealing the political scenario we are living in, wherein, in the disguise of security human blood seems useless and thin. Weather it is The Phoenix, Swan, Sparrow or Nightingale, the author has brilliantly used the imagery to carry us into his own world where his imaginations are hatched to the extent of promoting his pulsating experience. Dr. Koshy has emerged as a serious bird watcher from the balcony of his own house where poetry and prose serve his pen to diffuse whatever he observes into the literary society.
There are some poems where CPF has been employed like Sonnet for the Self and Haiku thus making this book an amalgamation of both poetic forms, apart from these poems, a prose Outside my House is a Guava Tree makes it a wonderful read. Rich Imagery, apt phrases, flow and delicacy has turned these little poems an authoritative contribution for poetry lovers. The ease with which these verses have been woven requires great skill of which the poet has not let us down. This uniqueness has perhaps been injected into verses by making it very close to prose.
Style and diction in the poems have added a typical Dr.Koshy’s distinctiveness, line break has judicious been used. Metaphors are melodious, versification varies and brevity has been employed to captivate the attention of the reader. Personification and alliterations besides shorter syllables have turned these bird songs majestic. On one hand the freedom of thought is well maintained not to let go the flow of imaginations but on the other hand brevity has been taken care of. It would have been a regal song book had the rhyme scheme been thought of to represent these birds in the best of their form, but Dr. Koshy has moved like a wind to carry these birds out of cages for some other reason.
I wish the bard may in future find more such birds to broaden our horizon. Let these birds sing, let these songs touch the profundity of our pre-occupied ears and let the feathers sustain the flight to beat the hunter’s tool.
Dr.Koshy’s voice has initiated many fallen angels who in despondency have lost sensitivities owing to invasion of machines and mechanized might. Let the isolated frames read the birds and listen to their romantic rituals of which the author is advocating in this collection.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Mushtaq B.Barq is a Columnist, Poet and Fiction Writer. He is the author of “Feeble prisoner, “ Wings of Love” and many translation works are credited to the author like “ Verses Of Wahab Khar” and “ Songs Of Sochkral”
